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Nippon Ichi Software
is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. They are responsible for such titles as the Disgaea and Marl Kingdom tactical role-playing series, as well as Phantom Brave and La Pucelle: Tactics. More recently, particularly through their North American branch, NIS America, they have also published anime titles. Its corporate mascot is the Disgaea demon Prinny. A North American branch of the company, NIS America was founded in 2003 in order to focus on publishing and localizing games for North America. Until 2007, Nippon Ichi Software did not have a branch for PAL regions, resulting in the company partnering with multiple third-party publishers, such as Ghostlight, Koei, Square Enix, and Ubisoft. History Nippon Ichi Software was founded in September 1991 in Gifu Prefecture, Japan, as an entertainment software company. It was relocated and reincorporated on July 12, 1993. Since then Nippon Ichi Software, Inc. has grown into an international company focused on creating video game products across modern console platforms. NIS America, Inc., the North American branch of Nippon Ichi Software was established on December 24, 2003. Based in Santa Ana, California, NIS America, Inc. handles the localization, marketing, and publishing of Nippon Ichi and other company's titles. The first game to be released in North America by NIS America was Phantom Brave. NIS America was the result of the company's wish to focus on international publication of their works in the United States, given the increased popularity of their titles in this territory. Prior to the creation of this subsidiary, NIS software titles that appeared in the U.S. were localized and distributed by outside publishers. Notable examples are Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, published in North America by Atlus and in Europe by Koei, La Pucelle: Tactics, published in North America by Mastiff, and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure which was also published in North America by Atlus. Over the years, NIS America has become a well-known presence in the North American market. The publisher won RPGLand's "Stateside Publisher of the Year Award" in 2009. During years 2008 and 2009 the financial results for Nippon Ichi saw a huge drop. The January 2009 financial report for the company recorded a drop of more than 97 percent in income in comparison to the previous year. Kotaku editor Brian Ashcraft reported that after the release of the financial figures "The company's closing price on the JASDAQ (Japanese NASDAQ) was ¥36,200 on Friday. When the market opened this morning, and investors began reacting to Nippon Ichi's financial statement, the stock price ultimately dropped ¥7,000 (US$78) as the stock was unloaded." In 2012 Nippon Ichi Software entered the Guinness World Records Book awarded for being the company that released the most strategy RPGs. In September 2007 Nippon Ichi Software announced the acquisition of video game developer System Prisma Corporation. On November 5, 2012 Nippon Ichi Software announced the formation of Nippon Ichi Software Asia Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore. In April 2010 Nippon Ichi Software announced the formation of Shishikui-ya, a wholly owned subsidiary of NIS America. In December 2011 Nippon Ichi Software announced the formation of Dione Entertainment (now Entertainment Support). On April 1, 2015 the company announced the formation of Nippon Ichi Software Vietnam Co., Ltd., a Vietnamese subsidiary of Nippon Ichi Software Asia Pte. Ltd. In March 2016 Shishikui-ya merged into Nippon Ichi Software. On April 22, 2016 Nippon Ichi Software announced the acquisition of adventure game developer FOG Inc.. On October 1, 2016 System Prisma Corporation merged into Nippon Ichi Software. Games Though the company has developed a number of traditional role-playing video games, Nippon Ichi's latest releases have primarily been a series of tactical RPG games. Many characters from previous titles make their way into later games as secret characters, even though their respective titles may not be directly connected. The Rhapsody series, Disgaea series, Phantom Brave, Makai Kingdom, and Soul Nomad are the games that are usually connected with each other through secret characters. Other games of separate genres, such as Cooking Fighter Hao, have been published by the company though they have never been released outside Japan. The most popular games are the Disgaea games. All of these games have connections to each other, whether it be the same world, dimensional travel, same creatures, or the same villain, Baal. Games developed and/or published by Nippon Ichi Software : Published by Hori Electric in Japan, and Atlus USA in North America. : Published by Atlus USA in North America. : Published by Mastiff in North America, and Koei in Europe and Australia. : Published by XS Games. : Published by Atlus USA in North America, and Koei in Europe. : Published by Koei in Europe. : Published by Koei in Europe and Australia. : Published by Square Enix in Australia. : Published by Ubisoft in Australia. : Published by Idea Factory in Japan. : Published by Broccoli. : Published by Sega Nippon Ichi Indie Spirits On December 28, 2016, Nippon Ichi Software announced , a label under which the company localises western indie games for the Japanese market. The program kicked off with the simultaneous release of Nidhogg, Back to Bed, and Emily Wants to Play on February 9, 2017. All games that are published through this program get released only digitally through the PlayStation Store. Games published by NIS America : Published by Koei in Europe, and THQ in Australia. : Published by Midas Interactive Entertainment in Europe and Australia. : Published by Ignition Entertainment in Europe. : Published by Ghostlight in Europe. : Published by 505 Games in Europe. : Published by Koei in Australia. : Published by Tecmo Koei in Europe. : Published by Xseed Games in North America, and Spike in Australia. : Published by Atlus USA in North America. : Published by Xseed Games in North America. : Published by Aksys Games in North America. : Published by GungHo Online Entertainment in North America. Cancelled titles *''Makai Wars'' (developer) - PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable Other media Nippon Ichi Software have begun to branch out into different media. Their first project is an anime series based loosely on the story of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Anime * Makai Senki Disgaea — 12 episodes total. Studio: Oriental Light and Magic Releases in North America Merchandise Both Nippon Ichi Software and NIS America sells merchandise related to their games at their official websites. References External links * * (NIS America) Category:Companies Nippon Ichi Category:1991 establishments in Japan Category:Amusement companies of Japan Category:Anime companies Category:Video game companies established in 1991 Category:Home video companies of the United States Category:Video game companies of Japan Category:Video game development companies Category:Video game publishers Category:Companies established in 1991